Clare pensioner lucky to be alive after car careers down 20ft river bank

A Clare pensioner is lucky to be alive tonight following a near miss when the car he was driving careered down a 20ft river bank.
86-year-old Anthony Harvey was saved after a child spotted his car in trouble in Kilmaley at around 4.30pm this evening. Mr Harvey had been in O’Brien’s shop and was sitting in his car getting ready to return home when the car rolled forward, through a fence and down the river bank. The car stopped rolling when it hit the opposite bank but stayed upright.
Locals and a passing nurse witnessed the accident and came to the rescue, climbing down the riverbank. Three unies of the fire brigade from Ennis, including members of their swift water rescue team were called to the scene.
The Doolin and Kilkee units of the Irish Coast Guard were also put on alert while the Shannon based search and rescue helicopter was requested to attend.
Fire crews and paramedics climbed down to attend to Mr Harvey who was conscious and appeared uninjured. Mr Harvey was assisted up the bank by fire crews and attended to by paramedics at the roadside.
As fire crews winched the car from the river, Mr Harvey was overheard saying to one firefighter, “Have ye the car out yet so I can drive home?”
The vehicle was removed from the river and taken from the scene by a recovery crew.
Shop owner Laurence O’Brien said, “That river was so high last week that the field next to it was flooded. It had to have been 10 feet higher than it is today. He was very lucky and thankfully he’s alright.”